Mike Monroe: Hurry up and wait

The first session of Spurs Training Camp 2007 began at 10 o’clock on Tuesday morning. Those of us who cover the team were warned by Spurs’ media relations director Tom James that the first practice likely would be a long one. “I think you’ll be safe if you show up around 11,” ‘TJ’ told all of us after Monday afternoon’s media day.

We were safe, all right. By the time we were ushered inside the practice facility on Spurs Lane it was exactly 12:20 on Tuesday afternoon, meaning the Spurs had been hard at work for two hours and 20 minutes.

Not many of the team’s practices last that long. After all, the Spurs are, in the words of head coach Gregg Popovich, “older than hell.” It doesn’t make sense to wear out exprienced players in practice, and part of Popovich’s genius during the Spurs’ run of greatness has been keeping an aging lineup fresh by the time the playoffs arrive. But even for veterans like Robert Horry, who turned 37 on Aug. 25, training camp is a time for hard work to get in game shape, despite Popovich’s joking that Horry had tried to get out of some of the first day’s drills.